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Archive for December, 2008

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Peace and blessings be upon his messengers, and upon his companions.

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said:

“The Ulema are the inheritors of the Prophets.”

Sadly, there are muslims, especially on the internet, who insult or defame scholars of our deen (especially Hanafi scholars). One of those scholars is Allama’ Nasafi. So i decided to research a little bit (from the available resources) and came up with the following, Hopefully it’ll be an informative read about one of the great scholars and hopefully those people who have nothing better to do than insult scholars will keep silent and go refine their manners. Inshallah i’ll continue to post other scholars biographies.

Abu Hafs Umar bin Muhammed an-Nasafi

”Al-Allama Al-Muhaddith Abu Hafs, Umar bin Ahmed bin Luqman, An-Nasafi, from the people of Samarqand. He’s the author of its tarikh (of Samarqand), Al-Mulaqqab bil Qand. He composed al-Jami’ As-Saghir into poetry. He was an expert in many sciences, he authored (works) on hadith, Tafsir, Shurut, he has about 100 works.

As-Sam’ani said, “(He was a) outstanding jurist, a master in the hanafi school and in adab. He wrote many books on fiqh, hadith. He composed the book Al-Jami’ As-Saghir into poetry”, and made mistakes in some of his hadith work(s).

“Ibn An-Najjar said about him, “He was an excellent jurist, an exegist, a Muhaddith, Adiib, a Mufti, and he authored books on Tafsir, hadith, and Shurut.”

He was the Shaykh of Allama Marghinani (author of al-Hidaya). Allama Marghinani said, “I heard Najmuddin say, I narrate ahadith from 550 shuyukhs.”

“Allama Abu Hafs was born in Nasf, in the year 461 Hijri, he is Umar bin Muhammed bin Ahmed bin Ismail bin Muhammed bin Ali bin Luqman. His kunya is Abu Hafs, Laqab is Najmuddin Din, he’s knows as (geographically) Nasafi or Samarqandi.

Travels

Najmuddin Din sought knowledge in Ma wara an Nahr, Iraq, and Hijaz. And when he visited Mecca he met with Allama Zamakhshari, and the incident is mentioned above. He had thousands of students who came to seek knowledge from him, and his own teachers would seek his advice in matters. He passed away in 12 of Jamadul Ula 537 in Samarqand.

His works

He has over 100 books; some of them have been lost. Mawlana Imtiyaz Ali Urshi Rampuri gives the names of the following books of Abu Hafs in his research:

Tafsir and Qira’at (recitation):

At-Taysir fi At-Tafsir-Tafsir – Four volumes Tafsir in Arabic, the fourth volume is present in the library of Ridaiya in Rampur.

Al-Akmal Wa Al-Atwal Fi At-Tafsir- another Tafsir written by him.

Risala fi al-Khata’a (mistakes) Fi qiratil Quran (printed).

Hadith:

Kitab ul Yawaqiit fi al-Mawaqiit – Ahadith on the merits of different times (Waqt).

“Umar bin Muhammed bin Ahmed bin Ismail bin Muhammed bin Luqman An-Nasafi then As-Samarqandi. Ibn As-Sam’ani said, “He was an outstanding Imam Surpassing (others) an Expert in one’s field (Mutafannin). He authored many books on different sciences, from them Tafsir, hadith, Shurut. His works reached 100, and he wrote excellent poetry. And he wrote Al-Jami’ As-Saghir of Muhammed bin al-Hasan into poetry, and he’s the author of Al-Qand fi dhikr Ulema Samarqand.” He was born in the year 461 and passed away in the 12th of Jamadul Ula, year 537.

(Source Tabaqat ul Mufassirin by Allama’ Suyuti).

Allama’ Zarkali in is A’alaam mentions similar to what is written in the above works.

Allama Ibn Qutlubagha in his Taj at-Tarajim Fi Tabaqat al-Hanafiya says mostly what Shaykh al-Qurashi said, and mentioned Kitab ul Qand which is a biographical dictionary of the scholars of Samarqand.

“It is said that the used to teach both humans and jinns, for this reason he was called Mufti at-Thaqalyn. From his works: al-Manthuma – the first fiqh book composed in poetry form, Mashari’ al-Shara’i, Tarikh Bukhara, Al-Fatawa al-Nasafiya, Kitab al-nijah fi Sharh Kitab Akhbar as-Sihah.

Someone saw him in a dream after his death and asked him (Abu Hafs) how did the questioning with Munkar and Nakir go? He (Abu Hafs) said, “Allah (exalted is He) returned by soul and Munkar and Nakir questioned me. I said, “Should I answer it in prose or poetry?” they said, “poetry”. So I said, “

ربي الله لا اله سواه ونبي محمد مصطفاه

وديني الإسلام و فعلي ذميم اسأل الله عفوه و عطاه

My Lord is Allah (exalted is He) there is no God besides himand my Prophet is Muhammed, His chosen one

My religion is Islam and my works are blameworthyI ask Allah (exalted is He) (for) His pardon and gift. (Jannah)

His poetry is also in the book by Allama Zarnuji, Ta’lim al-Muta’allim.

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Peace and Blessings be upon all the Messengers.

Inshallah I’ll try to post some beneficial material from different sources.

“Wearing Hindu or British clothing

Question: If a Muslim wears a Zannar (a thread) of the Hindus he becomes a kafir, is it likwise if he wears a cross or a hat that are worn by the British or is it that wearing the cross means commiting kufr and wearing the hat means doing something haram?

Answer: Wearing the cross in the neck is kufr, the cross is a distinguishing sign/mark of the christians. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “whoever imitates a nation/people, then he is from amongst them”. Because both (Zannar and cross) of them are signs of kufr, both of them are kufr. Wearing the hats of christians (British), or their coats or pants are not signs of kufr, rather they’re the clothing of the people (British). Wearing them in India means imitating their clothing, and it’s a sin. And the people who live in those countries (Britain, America) and the Muslims of those countries also wear those clothes, then there is no sin (upon them). Because in those lands (Britain) the clothing is not a sign/mark of christianity or christains, rather it’s a general clothing, for both Muslims and Kuffars. And Allah (exalted is He) knows best.” Source: Mawlana Rashid Ahmed Gongohi, Ta lifat Rashadiyya Ma’ Fatawa Rashadiyya Page78-79.

“There is no Tashabuh/imitation in wearing coat/jacket and pants in London:

One individual asked that if a Muslim who lives in London who wears pants and coat, is that tashabbuh/imitation? (Answer) It will not be tashabbuh, because it’s not thought of over there that it’s a clothing of another people, (rather) that’s the clothing of everyone over there, without any distinguishment. And if coats and pants were to be common in our land such that it’s specificity (of belonging to a particular people) is no longer in the mind, then it will not be prohibited (wearing coat and pants).” Mawlana Ashraf Ali Tahanwi Husnul Aziz Page 213, Take from Fiqh Hanafi Ki Usul wa Dawabit by Mawlana Muhammed Zayd Nadwi Page 154.